San Diego has set a high-bar goal to transition to zero-net energy in all new county buildings. So, the county's latest project, the Assessor, Recorder, County Clerk office in Santee needed to meet zero-net energy. Archive facilities are known for high energy usage, but C.W. Driver Cos. rose to the challenge, delivering the first zero-net archive facility in the country and paving the way for like projects in the future.

“With the archival piece of the project, there is a high energy usage,” Andy Feth, project executive at C.W. Driver, tells GlobeSt.com. “The building needs to maintain a constant temperature and energy requirement, and it is a much bigger energy hog than a standard office building. It is really more about a whole building energy optimization. We are trying to fine tune the various pieces with the glazing and the amount of insolation.”

The project is part of a broader plan for the County to become more energy efficient, and while this was a particularly challenging project considering the energy usage of the property, this wasn't C.W. Driver's first zero-net energy office building for the County. “The County of San Diego and the Board of supervisors made a resolution that all new county buildings going forward would be zero-net energy, and this project is a continuation of that commitment,” Feth says. “This is our second zero-net energy building with the county, and we cut our teeth on that last one and learned what it took to achieve that designation.”